Ignorance Is Bliss
By Sargent Snarky
Sequel to Fragments Of A Shattered Mirror.
Note: This occurs after Epilogue Three.
Disclaiming: I do not own .hack, but I DO own this plot. Please don't plagiarize!
Further notations located in the Author's Notes at the end of the chapter.
Summary: Kite and Tsukasa now exist merely as vagrant A.I.s, remembering nothing of their past before Aura gave them their 'second chance.' While their friends grieve, they wander The World innocently, freely, and happily. Ah yes, their ignorance is bliss.
Chapter I : Getting To Know You…
( Kudos to anyone who can tell me the name of the movie from which I stole the title of this chapter. Well, I stole it from a famous song from the movie. The song is called Getting To Know You. What's the movie? Hint in author's notes…)
(This chapter picks up not long after the epilogue.)
Kite and Tsukasa wandered through Net Slum, hand in hand, eyes turning this way and that in wonder. This place seemed so familiar, and yet… It was as if they were discovering it for the first time. At first, they met no one, not even the discombobulated AIs who populated this place, calling it Paradise. But then, turning a corner, the pair emerged into what seemed to be a main thoroughfare. Many strange beings floated, stumbled, or just sat upon the twisty, wide road. Some resembled Kite and Tsukasa in that they seemed like normal players, thought something was off. Others were only half there, literally. Random stripes and sections of their bodies were missing, or completely screwed up. Still others bore no resemblance to actual players, and they varied in their degrees of completeness.
One of the sort that was not made of character data was the first to notice Kite and Tsukasa, and his expression was filled with joy, eyes alight with it. But then, as he studied them more closely, the light dimmed somewhat, and he shook his gnarled head. He seemed like a skinny, nobby, wooden old man, with a wiry white beard, mustache and eyebrows, and he leant upon a wooden stick. His name was Tartarga, and he was among the more lucid of the AIs. As he stumped over to Kite and Tsukasa, who stared around them with confused interest, others took note of their presence and made an attempt to wave, or spouted some random phrase, or even (in a few cases) managed to actually articulate a proper greeting in a variety of languages.
"Greetings, my friends," said Tartarga, and the pair looked at him.
"Hello," said Kite.
"You are Kite and Tsukasa, are you not?"
"Yes," answered Tsukasa.
Tartarga smiled wanly. "Welcome to Paradise, then. I'm Tartarga."
"Thanks!" replied Kite, brightly. "It's good to meet you."
"Indeed," replied Tartarga, nodding to the two of them before wandering off to find Helba.
The hacker, of course, already knew about the two knew data signatures in her creation, and she had been watching them and thinking. Helba had actually watched Aura resurrect the data, too, but hadn't intervened. Why should she? She understood, after a fashion, why Aura did this, and didn't think it was her place to get involved. Not that she wanted to, anyway. Perhaps she might talk to these two new residents of Net Slum at some point, but not now… Not so soon after… they had died.
Truth be told, Helba had actually been rather fond of Kite, and she'd been quite upset when he had died. She hadn't really known Tsukasa, though she'd watched 'him' a bit during the six months 'he' had been trapped in The World the first time. So, though she was sad at Amaya's death, she wasn't quite as distraught. Still, she'd attended their funerals. It was funny, in a way, because Kite's family had been amazed and somewhat confused about the large group of people (of varying ages) in attendance whom they did not know, yet who seemed to know Kite. Amaya's 'family', which consisted of 'Bear', Mimiru and Mrs. Kurosawa, Mimiru's mother, was not surprised at all at random people who dropped in. Indeed, they actually knew them… most of them, anyway. A few from Amaya's school they didn't know, but that didn't matter. Helba had stayed relatively obscure, unnoticed for the most part.
Anyway, Helba turned her thoughts away from such matters now, instead pondering how certain friends of both Kite and Tsukasa would react if they met the AIs… Luckily, she supposed, Kite and Tsukasa didn't seem like they were going anywhere else soon…
( Some three months later…)
"You're what!" exclaimed Orca and Blackrose at the same time, both staring wide-eyed at Balmung.
The white knight chuckled softly. "I'm going to apply to become a system administrator. Hey, I do have programming skills, and it'd be at least one administrator who actually has a vague understanding of The World."
"Noo! He's going to the Dark Side!" cried Blackrose, pretending to faint.
Orca just blinked at the fellow Descendent of Fianna. "You're crazy. How can you even be sure they'd let you be an administrator?"
Balmung shrugged. "I've got less than a semester of college left, and then I'll be free, complete with a couple degrees in programming and stuff. So… I'll apply to CC corporation. Besides, it's more likely they'd accept me than, oh… I don't know… just a random person."
"Wait, wait, wait," said Blackrose. "You're a computer programmer?"
"Sort of," replied Balmung. "Yes."
"Ick." Blackrose stuck out her tongue.
Balmung blinked. "What's wrong with that?"
Orca laughed and rolled his eyes at Blackrose. "It's because Piros is a computer programmer, or so Blackrose told me."
The white knight arched an eyebrow. "Really? Hmm… How do you know?"
Blackrose paused, then, looking off into space, she murmured, "Kite told me. He said that Piros had to be a programmer or designer for video games who was obsessed with food and had no grounding in reality based upon various emails exchanged."
Balmung nodded, and the levity disappeared from Orca's face. An awkward silence followed for several moments, until a light chime sounded in the ears of all three, and all three started. It was a flashmail from Elk, asking them all to meet him in a certain field.
"Did you guys get the mail from Elk, too?" asked Blackrose.
The other two nodded. "Shall we then?" asked Balmung, and off they went, first to the delta server, and then onto the designated meeting place.
Elk stood there upon the sunny field, shifting anxiously. Mia was off in the distance, poking at some Mandragoras. However, when Balmung, Orca and Blackrose appeared, she looked up, then began to meander back over. Elk glanced over at her, then turned to the other three.
"Hey, Elk," said Blackrose. "What's wrong?"
He hesitated, unsure exactly how to say it. "Um…"
"Just spit it right out," said Orca.
"Well, um… Mia and I were in Dun Loireage when.. um.. we ran into two players who looked exactly like Kite and Tsukasa. I know that's impossible, but even their voices were the same! Mia knew them, and they knew Mia… even talked a bit, but… It was really weird… They were like the same as Kite and Tsukasa were… Except different. I don't know how to explain it. They seemed happier, and yet… And they didn't know who I was at all. I mean, I could tell the recognized me… but they just couldn't seem to remember who I was. But they knew Mia right away, and…" He trailed off, gazing at the other three players with a miserable unsure confused sort of expression.
Blackrose, Orca and Balmung all exchanged puzzled, worried glances. And then Mia, ears a'twitch and tail a'swish, spoke.
"Are you talking about Kite and Tsukasa?" she asked of Elk. He nodded, so she continued, "I see. Don't worry about them. They're… fine. They're like me. But, they're not like me."
"What are you talking about?" asked Orca.
"Kite and Tsukasa. They're like me, but not like me."
"Mia…?" queried Elk.
"What do you mean?" demanded Blackrose.
The cat sighed, frowning in thought as best she could, what with a cat-face. "They… Only exist in The World," she stated after a moment. "Like me."
"Huh? But they're dead!" said Blackrose, unhappily.
Balmung suddenly let out an 'oh' of understanding. "I see… I think," he murmured.
"See what?" asked Orca.
"The players Elk saw aren't really Kite and Tsukasa, but AIs. Like Mia. Am I right?" He looked at Mia, and she nodded slowly. "But what I don't get is why, how they exist, or even what you mean by not like you."
"I see," said Elk, nodding. "But they're not like Mia because they're based off of actual players, actual people. Whoever made them probably used character data logs, among other things. But… how'd they'd get a nearly identical personality… I don't know. It's not like making AIs is easily found knowledge. They don't teach programming like that at school."
"No, they don't," agreed Balmung. "Mia… do you know where they came from? And how long they've been in the system?"
"They… came into existence in the Net Slum, and they've been here… a while. I first met them a few months ago," answered the cat player.
"Net Slum?" said Orca.
"But why would Helba do something like that!" asked Blackrose, voice quavering.
"She didn't," said Mia.
"Then who did?" demanded Blackrose.
A sudden idea occurred to Elk, and, even as Mia opened her mouth to answer, he exclaimed, "Aura!"
- - - - - - - -
Author Notes:
Okay-dokey-smokey! See? Not depressing at all! I told you it wouldn't all be sad…
Anyway, I've already written the first chapter of my previously mentioned idea and posted it… The link is thus:
and read and tell me what you think of my fluff! Yes… I was definitely going for fluff, there… So.. Please tell me what you think.. I'm not sure my fluff is as.. em.. convincing as my angst. Oh.. do note that this sequel of a sequel, which I've entitled Anomalies of a System, takes place about four years after this one… so obviously things'll be different..
Onto Reviewer Replies! Ooh.. nine… yay!
Nessmk2: Thanks for reviewing everything I updated in a row. XD -feels danged- Sorry I made you so sad, what with all the sad stuff…Ok. This story won't be terribly long, and it'll deal mostly with everyone's reactions to stuff… So.. The story idea I mentioned… Linkage is up there.. –points higher up on the author notes- Umm… Well… This one will have a mostly happy ending.
Angelyoshi: Yup. Very sad. Of course Tsukasa and Kite are dead for good. I'm not bringing necromancy into this… O.o But in a way their souls are alive in the A.I.s
Senkai-Ninja: You…? Again! -gasp- Hehe… Well… Elk was just disturbed. And… Mia is not at all surprised. And.. .you'll have to wait and see about the others…
Shadow Rave: -holds out box of tissues and a bag of peanut M&Ms- Popcorn tastes better with chocolate.
Twilight Memories: Yes… I've started my sequel idea! Muahaha! Go read it, pwease? -makes Kite give you puppy dog eyes- Umm… Shugo & Kite meeting won't happen for a couple of chapters in that one. Not until the Haunted Mansion… Oops… Shouldn't have told you that… Sorry..
Vertigo900: I continued. See?
Aeris: Angst is actually fun to write, in a way. O.o I don't mind being bugged. It'll provoke me to get off my lazy tush and write. Thanks. Check out the above link for the 'sequel like that'
Minako: Yes. It's continued. The above link is to mah idearly. This won't be terribly dark at all. Neither will that one, since I'm following the MANGA and not the anime.
Sharon: /sarcasm/ wooow. Such great grammar. Your post was soooo understandable /end sarcasm/ I'm sorry… It's just.. your post was difficult to read. Um… Kite and Tsukasa are dead, but the others'll see them soon… Shugo and Rena will come to The World. See the link upperly there. "well time past?" Huh? Do you mean Will Time Pass? If so, is there any reason why it shouldn't? Thanks for reviewing, though.
Get thee hence and prithee review!